A Dream Worth Fighting For
by the white princess
Summary: Dusty Crophopper had dreamed of racing in the Wings around the Globe race since she was a little girl. She just had one small problem, even though she had been flying for years she was afraid of heights. But with the help of her friends and the town's war vet turned flying instructor that might not be such a big problem after all. Fem Dusty Humanized Characters.
1. Someday

A/N This is technically set after my other story If You're Going My Way, but we all know the plot of cars so it's not really important though I may drop a line or two about Lyra (fem Lightning) in later chapters. This is a fem Dusty story with the main pairing being Dusty X Skipper. Reviews are really appriciated guys. And if you do like this then check out my other story If You're Going My Way with fem Lightning x Doc.

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Propwash Junction, a spectacular little town hidden away in the heart of America. The town itself was built on highland shaped like a plane, which was slightly ironic seeing as the town was practically one big airport with a few small homes and hangars scattered around. Made up of a handful of individuals everybody knew everybody in Propwash Junction, from the oldest resident Mayday, a nicknamed given to him by a group of kids back when he was first starting out as a fireman that everyone now called him by, to the youngest citizen Dottie Decker; you couldn't go anywhere without running into someone you knew.

But what made Propwash Junction such a fantastic place was how empty the town and the surrounding area was. The town itself being so small didn't even appear on the map, in fact the nearest town to Propwash was just shy of 2 hours away by car. And even though the majority of the town was made up of its airport it still didn't receive that many visitors, seeing as not many people knew that it existed. But that's what made Propwash truly incredible, because of the lack of knowledge about its existence the airspace around it was clear most days and the surrounding mountains made for great obstacles for practice, just like two fighter jets were about to find out.

"What's taking this girl so long? Is she really as good as they say she is?" One of the pilots asked the other over his radio as he took in his surroundings, keeping his eyes open for any other type of aircraft. He and his partner had been flying around since that morning with orders to find and race Dusty Crophopper, one of the fastest racers in the world so that they could test out a new part in their jets meant to improve speed; if they beat her today then the test would be a success and they could possibly start putting the part in all the other jets on the squad.

"No. Better" The other pilot told him, leaving a pause between the two words for a bit of dramatic effect. Unlike his partner this pilot had raced against Crophopper before on a similar mission a few months prior, and just like back then he expected to trail behind her for the majority of the race; although he did plan to give it his all. He had seen first-hand just what the girl in question could do in the air and he doubted that he and his partner could even come close to matching her skill.

Suddenly out of nowhere came a small orange plane, zipping past the pair in seconds before disappearing into the clouds again; they had finally found her. In a matter of seconds, she was once again in front of them, the inexperienced pilot almost doing a double take in his seat as he took in the girl's plane. To think a tiny little crop-duster had been able to come at them so fast, no wonder she was known as one of the best racers in the world if she could make a plane like that go at such high speeds.

"Hello boys. Ready to lose?" Dusty spoke over the radio as she tightened her scarf, a habit that she had formed since she first started piloting. She had been having such a relaxing day, planning to spend the majority of it in bed asleep until her best friend Chug had opened her hanger door and began telling her about the two jet fighters that had stopped at the airport that morning for some fuel. Knowing that they would be looking for her Dusty quickly got dressed and made her way up into the sky, looking for the two pilots so that she could get this over with and get back to bed.

"Last one to the water tower buys a round of drinks." The more experienced of the two fighter jet pilots spoke as he prepared himself for the race. They had made the same bet last time he had raced Dusty and had been the one paying having come in 3rd with his old partner, however his current partner was much younger with less experience under his belt so he had a good chance of not having to spend any money this time around.

"Tell you what, I'll give you guys a head start." Dusty began as she smiled to herself, having actually become excited about the idea of racing the two pilots behind her. Perhaps the military had finally been able to come up with something that could finally beat her and this wouldn't have been a complete waste of her time; after all this was something like their 10th test against her surely they should have come up with something by now. "You're going to need it."

"Later loser." The less experience pilot scoffed before he and his partner started diving, leaving the pilot of the orange plane all alone in the air.

'One one-thousand, two one- Oh that's enough'. Dusty began counting in her head before deciding that they had been given enough of a head start, they were piloting fighter jets after all they should in theory beat her in her crop-duster with that much of a head start surely.

Dusty started out her dive with a barrel roll, possible her favourite trick to do while in her trusty plane; the way it made her feel was simply indescribable. For most of the race Dusty stayed right on the pairs tail, a tactic she often used while racing to give her opponents a false sense of security, when people knew that they were ahead of her they often got cocky about the idea and cockiness often lead to mistakes that Dusty could use as an opening to quickly turn the race around and move back into first place.

When the three of them finally began to race over one of the many corn fields surrounding the area Dusty began to make her move. It hadn't been the right time before when they had flown over the river or around Propwash's 'great tail', but now as they zoomed over the farmland Dusty knew that this was the moment to act and stop acting like the two jet fighters actual had a chance against her.

"See ya sucker!" Dusty shouted over the radio as she ascended above the pair briefly before once again going in for a barrel roll, activating her sprayer as she went. With the water tower just seconds away Dusty was pulling it close but she knew that the two jets wouldn't be able to catch her once she got ahead. "Eat my-"

"DUSTY!"


	2. Live Like This

In an instant everything changed as Dusty's fantasy was cut short and she was forced to return to her boring and mundane reality. Sadly unlike in her dreams of being a famous racer so fast that the military were constantly trying to catch up to her Dusty was instead a crop-duster, spending her days flying over fields of corn fertilising the crops with only her boss Leadbottom for company. Leadbottom wasn't the best at conversation however with most of the words out of his mouth being about one of two things, how her dreams were unattainable and how much he loved Vitaminamulch; his homemade fertiliser that he used on all his crops. Because of this lack of communication Dusty often spent her days fantasising about another more exciting life, which often got her into trouble.

"Pay attention! You were daydreaming again." Leadbottom scolded her before he began having a coughing fit, feeling as if he was bringing up a lung he felt that bad. Now most days he loved the smell of his Vitaminamulch, the way its stench just stuck to everything for hours on end from his clothes to his plane you couldn't get rid of Vitaminamulch without at least washing what the smell stuck to twice. He loved the way it felt in his hands while he was mixing it every day before going out to fertilise his crops. But what he loved most though was the way it reminded him of the compost that his mother had made when he was a child helping her run the farm, although he had improved his mother's recipe since then. However, while he loved Vitaminamulch with his whole being getting chocked by the stuff wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Who, me? No, no, no. No." Dusty began as she shuffled around in her cockpit in an attempt to hide her nerves. She knew it was useless to lie to Leadbottom, it was very obvious that she had been daydreaming, Dusty had gotten so lost in it that she physically started to act it out after all. This was an almost daily occurrence between the two as Dusty would spend most of her workday fantasising about a different life where she was a famous airplane racer, soring around the sky far away from Propwash Junction. "Okay yes I was. But come on Leadbottom how hard is this? Fly straight, turn around. Fly straight, turn around."

"Hey now, are you disrespecting the sweet science of aerial application?" Leadbottom questioned Dusty as the pair prepared to turn around and continue their work in the opposite direction. Sometimes Leadbottom regretted the fact that he had hired Dusty and let her dust his crops without the proper training, teaching her the bare minimum that she would need to fertilise his corn and nothing more. But the pair had been so desperate back then that neither had really cared that Dusty didn't have professional specific aviation training to her name, she knew what to do and how to do it and that was really all that mattered. But maybe if Leadbottom had paid for her to go on a professional course she might have some appreciation for the job that she did.

"I am more than just a crop duster." Dusty exclaimed as she veered left and began to make her assent. This was a common discussion between the boss and employee since they first started working together a little over 10 years ago. Leadbottom had never once encouraged Dusty's dreams of racing, telling her that it was simply a childish dream that she hadn't grown out of and as soon as she did she would look back on the memory and laugh about how ridiculous the idea was in the first place.

"Don't go flap-jawing about that Flings Around the Planet air racing nonsense again-" Leadbottom began before being quickly interrupted by Dusty so that she could correct him.

"Excuse me, it's called the Wings Around the Globe Rally." Dusty told him as she activated her sprayer, ignoring the 'For the love of Peterbilt' that Leadbottom had mumbled under his breath. To think the two of them had been working together since she was 17 and Leadbottom still couldn't get the name of the race right. Sometimes Dusty thought that he got it wrong on purpose just to annoy her, after all after listening to her talk about it nearly every day for 10 years he should have learned what it was called by now. "And it's not nonsense. I've got a tight turn radius and a high power-to-weight ratio."

"You know what else you got? A screw loose." Leadbottom told Dusty as he began to drift slightly away from her. Leadbottom just couldn't understand why Dusty wanted to leave the life she already had, after all by working for him she was to fly just like she had always wanted, although she was stuck following the same route every day, but he also offered her job security and a means for her to provide for both herself and her mother; what more could the girl want from a job. "I mean why would you want to give up crop-dusting? Blue skies, no air traffic and the tangy scent of Vitaminamulch. Mmmm just like mama used to make. You smell it?"

"They say the sense of smell is the first thing to go." Dusty spoke as she held her nose to avoid the whiff of Vitaminamulch that Leadbottom had sprayed in her direction. Dusty couldn't stand the stuff, every day after work she was forced to use up almost all of her hot water just to get the smell of her body, plus the stuff stuck to her clothes like mad and because she had used up most of her water she was always asking Dottie and Chug, her two best friends, if they would be willing to do her loads for her. But the worst thing about Vitaminamulch was how it destroyed her plane, she couldn't go a day without getting the stuff everywhere, from the wings to the wheels Vitaminamulch stuck to her plane like flies to honey. "Quitting time!"

"A crop-duster wanting to be a racer. If you ask me more racers should want to be crop-dusters." Leadbottom scoffed as Dusty began to fly away back towards Propwash Junction. Every day as soon as the siren blasted at 5 o'clock to tell them that the work day was over Dusty would hurry off back home, not even bothering to say goodbye as she went. Not that Leadbottom minded too much, he had been forced to listen to the girl talk about racing practically all day and now that he was free of her he could have some time to himself.

"I got some minamulch yeah! Minamulch yeah!


	3. Good Morning, Good Day

"Nowadays they've got soybean fuel, switchgrass fuel, algae fuel. Come on!" A young man wearing a green and orange flannel shirt complained to his companion as he began to pump the three jerry cans that the other man had brought him full of fuel. The young man in question was named Chug Holman, best friend to Dusty Crophopper and Dottie Decker and the third youngest person living at Propwash Junction at 30 years old. Chug stood at 5'10 and was both the tallest and oldest of his friends, he had unruly auburn hair that he kept hidden most of the time under a green baseball cap and had a pair of hazel eyes.

Being the youngest residences at Propwash the three friends had been drawn to each other as children as there was no one else around their own age to play with. They would spend hours running around the airport playing games and sometimes if they were really good they were allowed to go swimming in the nearby river as long as one of their parents went with them. They even went to school together, taking online classes in an unused hanger because the nearest actual school was so far away. Through thick and thin the three friends stuck together, the three had even gone into business together opening up the Fill n' Fly not long after they left school, with Chug and Dottie running the majority of the business while Dusty owned a small percentage for the money she had put forward to help open the shop.

"Oh healthy, no tank you." Chug's companion Sparky exclaimed as he watched Chug fill up the jerry cans. Sparky worked at Skippers Flight School run by his long-time friend Skipper Riley who had opened the school nearly 10 years ago, taking over the role as the towns flying teacher after the last one had retired. Unlike Skipper who spent the majority of his time hidden away in his hanger, Sparky was a very active and social individual spending his day when not working hanging around with the other residents, especially Chug who Sparky could talk to for hours without realising how much time had gone by.

"Tell me about it. What's next pistachio propane?" Chug joked as he moved to fill the second jerry can. When Chug and his friends had been in school he had found a passion for science similarly to how Dottie fell in love with mechanics and Dusty with flying. And so, as he grew up he began to think about how he could use his love of science to make a living in Propwash and one day it hit him, he would make his own fuel; both organic and renewable out of the crops that surrounded the town. In fact, Chug's fuel was so good that everyone in Propwash used it as it could be used in both cars and planes and it was much cheaper than regular fuel.

"What, are you nuts?" Sparky replied, unsure if Chug was joking or not. Unlike Chug, Sparky was considerably shorter, in fact he was one of the shortest citizens with only a few inches on the shortest resident Dottie; who really got the short end of the stick being the youngest and shortest in the town. Sparky was also much older than the trio, having been a young man working as a medic in the war around the time they were all born. It was how Sparky and Skipper had met, with Sparky taking care of Skip after he had been injured in battle and deciding to follow him after the war had ended; knowing that Skipper wouldn't take care of himself properly if he was left alone. Sparky hadn't minded though he never had, he had no family back then so joining Skipper had seemed like the right thing to do and he still believed that now; he had a steady job, great friends and he lived in a beautiful yet small community what more could anyone want.

"For my money, there's nothing like good old-fashioned corn fuel." Chug told him as he moved the pump and began to fill the final jerry can. Corn, who would think that the crop could be so profitable, although at the start Chug had his doubts about the stuff. When he began making his own fuel Chug's only customers had been Dusty and Dottie, wanting to support him as much as they could. The town hadn't actually believed Chug when he said that the fuel could be used in multiple vehicles until they had seen him fill up Dusty's plane and then Dottie small car. Soon after the business boomed and Chug even made enough money to afford a fuel truck to both house and pump his fuel properly rather than keeping it in jerry cans in his home and using a funnel and tube to fill up engines. "I even came up with a slogan. Corn, it gives you gas."

"Catchy, I like it." Sparky told him as he took the slogan in. Chug had been telling him for a while that he was thinking about expanding his business to some of the 'neighbouring' towns, although he wouldn't consider a city nearly 2 hours away neighbouring, but it was the closest place of civilisation to Propwash.

"Me too. There you go Sparky, you're all set." Chug told him as he finished filling up the final jerry can. Sparky always bought more fuel than he needed though Chug figured that was more for Skipper than for Sparky. The whole town knew about Skipper's brave heroics in the war and how badly he had been injured, with Sparky having to push him around in a wheelchair whenever he went outside his hanger, which wasn't very often. Skipper hadn't flown since the war although he had become a flying instructor and had kept his old war plane, an F4U Corsair, in his hanger. But Sparky had always been determined that Skipper would one day fly again, and he would be ready with fuel when the day finally came.

"Catch you later Chug." Sparky replied as he began to push the jerry cans away on the silver trolley he had brought. As Chug stood there watching Sparky walk back to his hanger Chug began to wonder where his best friend was, he had heard the siren go off a few minutes previous and she still hadn't arrived yet. Just as Chug was about to go looking for her however a voice came on over his radio causing him to smile and run inside his section of the shop to answer her call.

"This is Dusty Crophopper to Chug. Over"


	4. Chapter 4

"This is Dusty Crophopper to Chug. Over" Dusty repeated over her radio as she flew around Propwash waiting for Chug to answer. Normally as soon as work ended Dusty would land and meet up with Chug, getting a quick bite to eat before hitting the skies again for practice. However today Dusty was far too excited, wanting to head straight into practice rather than have a rest. The reason for this excitement was that in 3 days time Dusty would be one step closer to achieving her dream, she would be taking part in a qualifier for The Wings Around the Globe.

When she found out that the qualifier would be taking place in the city closest to them Dusty had been ecstatic, immediately reading up on the rules and regulations to see if she would be able to race with her current plane. After reading ever rule twice just in case she had misread something Dusty found no rule saying that a crop duster couldn't fly and signed up that day. Her happiest moment though was when her confirmation email arrived telling her that she had been successful in joining the contestants and that they couldn't wait to meet her; the whole time she had been reading the email she had been clutching onto her Ripslinger pillow to contain her nerves. Dusty couldn't believe it, her dreams were now closer than they ever were before; which was why she needed to train more if she wanted to have a chance of winning the qualifier and making it into the race.

"Uh, Chug isn't here. Come on use the new call sign." Chug finally replied over the radio along with a small bang that sounded like something falling over. Dusty had asked Chug to be her coach the day she had found out she would be taking part in the qualifier, knowing that she wouldn't be able to do well on her own; after all she could only see what was in front of her inside the cockpit not her plane itself, if she was doing something wrong then she would need a man on the ground watching what she was doing and telling her what she was doing wrong. Chug might not know anything about flying aside from what was in his 'Air Racing for Dummies' manual but he was her best friend and Dusty couldn't think of anyone else she would rather have as a coach.

"Right. This is Strut Jetstream calling Turbo Coach Truck-Zilla." Dusty told him as she held back a laugh at the names. She and Chug had come up with them one night after they had spent a few hours at 'Honkers' and gone over to Dusty's hanger to watch the recording she had of the 'Top 10 Plane Crashes'. It had been an in the moment affair, coming up with what could possibly be the most ridiculous names that they could have, though Dusty did like the last name Jetstream it made her sound so much cooler than she actually was. It wasn't until the next day during practice that Chug had decided to call her Strut, Dusty had though that Chug would have forgotten all about the names after he had slept off his drinks but that hadn't been the case and so the tradition began; with the two using their new call signs whenever they communicated on the radio. "Ready for practice?"

"You batcha Strut!"


End file.
